The Silver Lining
by Johnchkrow
Summary: Enter Steven, a college student limping his way to graduation while blindly following the route he believes is his destiny. But when a simple, intricate change in an otherwise normal day in Steven's life leads him to the land of Equestria, a world of fantasy no human prior has experienced, he is forced to confront trials and tribulations while mastering the power of friendship.
1. ProlougeChapter One

Prologue-

1,000 Years ago:

"Celestia," Luna began, rising from the shadows of their respective hideout and placing a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "Are you sure about this?"

The graceful Celestia turned to her sister and bowed to her. It was the first time Celestia had ever bowed to another pony.

"I need you to trust me," was all she said.

Luna opened her mouth to say something, but Celestia looked deep into her eyes, a look Luna had not seen in her sister ever before:

 _Fear_.

Celestia took one last look at the dazzling tree before them. Even with the Tree of Harmony glowing beautifully before them, and all Elements of Harmony now in Celestia's possession, Luna knew the power of Discord and doubted any pony in all of Equestria could defeat him. However, she knew the risk of what Celestia had done was even more risky than taking on the powerful Spirit of Chaos by themselves.

"Celestia, we don't know who can find it. We don't know who WILL find it! We don't know who will come to our world or what kind of power they have," Luna expressed to her dear sister, worry lacing her every word. "What if somepony even stronger than Discord finds it? Or what if somepony who finds it is even more evil than him? Or-"

"Luna," Celestia began, her eyes scrunched in fear from the thoughts of what the consequences could be if Luna was right. "You know that there is not a pony in all of Equestria who can match the power that you and I hold. If we fail to stop Discord with the Elements of Harmony, he will not stop with Ponyville. Nor will he stop with the Everfree Forest. Nor with Cloudsdale."

The magnitude of her words captured Luna's undivided attention. Celestia continued, "He will not stop until all of Equestria is under a blanket of chaos, and nopony from our world will ever be able to stop him. We have to hope that the being who finds it in its world will be able to use the resources in their world to save Equestria."

"Sister, this is a risk we must take," was uttered from Celestia with an air of finality.

Luna looked down as the frown upon her face grew ten-fold. She still disagreed with her sister's seemingly reckless decision but resigned herself to Celestia's whims. They placed the mirror next to the tree and covered it with a special cloth made from the finest silk of Ponyville. From above it started raining chocolate milk, soaking both pony's manes.

"Luna," Celestia began, "it is time."

"Yes my sister," Luna said as she gently bowed in response.

Celestia used her magic to envelop the six elements in a telekinetic bind and placed them inside Luna's side bag.

Celestia turned around and began her journey to the throne Discord sat upon. As she did so, she warned, "What we are about to do will exhaust you physically and mentally. The magical energy stored within these elements is more powerful than anything you have ever seen. It is _impossible_ for only one pony to use them all without exhausting all of their magical power. The odds of the two of us succeeding are outstandingly low."

Luna looked at the ground, tears forming in her eyes. Once again, it felt as if Celestia was doubting her sister. Luna had done everything in her power to become the strongest pony possible for both her sister and herself. Luna's power was so great that she could even attempt to wrestle with Discord over the moon with her own magic. Celestia however, always being the protective older sister, was one to subconsciously doubt Luna's power as a pony and hence wanted to take on all dangerous tasks by herself.

Luna was fighting back tears of frustration. Even now, in her most dire hour, Celestia refused to trust her sister? The pony closest to her in all regards, despite the power she worked so hard to obtain?

Another wave of frustration passed through her.

If Celestia could not even trust Luna to protect Equestria now, she never would. Was this the destiny of "Princess" Luna? To stay in the darkness of her older, more powerful sister, while her sister raised the sun and brought light and cheer to every pony she met?

Luna began to grow angry.

" _Celestia's idea will not work. If we fail to stop Discord, there won't be another being from any other dimension that can stop him_ ," Luna thought, clearly distraught. " _Even if there were such a creature, I doubt they would take the time to fix the broken world of Equestria. Our world as we know it is as good as-_ "

"But I have faith in you."

Celestia's elegant voice broke Luna's thoughts, shattering them like a broken glass. Celestia put her hoof under her sister's chin and lifted her sister's head, so their eyes met. Her horn glowed a bright gold as a spare piece of silk shrouded in gold aura flowed to Luna's face and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You have always stood by me in my most tragic moments and now is when I need somepony else the most. Luna, I know what we face is close to impossible, but I have seen you grow into a beautiful mare with magical power far greater than I have ever seen. I know that together, we can stop Discord and save our home of Equestria!"

Luna's face broke into a watery smile. She hadn't realized just how much she needed to hear that. "Yes my sister," Luna responded in a whisper, and then she found her voice.

"Together, we WILL stop Discord!"

The two embraced each other for a moment, then turned and walked up the long staircase towards their destiny, Discord's maniacal laugh bellowing in the distance.

* * *

Luna collapsed in front of the mirror, exhausted. She glanced at the mirror before her, staring into the eyes of her reflection.

"We did it," she said to herself, her face relaxing. "I suppose we didn't need the mirror after all…"

Luna tiredly gazed into the mirror, the reflected image of her staring back with equal intensity. After what seemed like a few minutes, she placed the silk cloth back over the mirror using her magic.

" _One day_ ," she thought to herself, " _this mirror will either save us or destroy us by what it brings to this world. I cannot say which one is more likely, but I can say that I hope neither myself nor my sister live to see that day_."

* * *

Chapter 1-

Laughter.

To be fair, borderline comical hysteria was a more accurate description. That was the response Steve was facing from three girls. Each girl was seemingly laughing harder than the next, the one in the middle even had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Geez," Steve thought to himself, trying hard to keep his emotions in check. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed…"

Steve cleared his throat, blinking slowly and spoke, "So, is that a no then?" The girl in the middle laughed once again, wiped the tears and mascara from her eyes and faced Steve.

"Do you honestly think," she began, "I would ever go out with someone like you?"

Steve honestly didn't know what to say.

"Well, I uh…"

"Just forget it. I'd never go out with someone like you even if someone paid me! I have standards after all." The girl turned to her friends, who were still snickering. Steve felt his face burn red as he hoped that he wasn't visibly blushing. He knew that he was anyways.

"C'mon girls," said the middle girl; all three of them turned around and walked away.

Steve could feel his cheeks burning red. He wanted to call out to the girl and try again, but between the pride-shattering rejection he just received and the way her friends reacted, not to mention the amount of people who awkwardly watched as his heart and pride was relentlessly stomped on, Steve realized that wasn't such a good idea. He took out his headphones, plugged them into his iPhone, and put the earbuds in his ear as he played on some heavy rock. He began his walk home towards his dorm room.

Steven Michael Dester, age 20, was a current student at New Hampshire University. Steven was here on a full-scholarship, studying Psychology with an emphasis in Religious Studies. Steven was a normal young man by most accounts on the inside: he was passionate about the things he enjoyed doing, he loved all kinds of sports, he loved video games, and he was very dedicated to his faith. His outer appearance wasn't considered awful, but it was a far cry from what anyone would typically call attractive. Steven was approximately six foot tall and extremely skinny by his own account. He was bestowed with a grossly oval face and thick glasses that generated a second glance from most strangers. His nose was too big for such a stretched face and served to highlight the bizarre make-up of his inherited genetics.

Steven's awkward appearance left him lonely for the most part, save for a few cases of harassment from particularly nasty people. These cases of harassment alongside with the stolen double-takes from everyday strangers made Steve very self-conscience about himself. He didn't realize it until much later but at some point he started to introduce himself as Steve and insist that people call him Steve. Maybe it was because Steve sounded cooler? Less formal? He wasn't quite sure. All throughout his life Steve was top of his class and enjoyed the positive attention that came from it by his teachers and faculty, but ever since coming to college, suddenly he was satisfied with "just passing." After all, it didn't really matter at this point to him. What ultimately changed? People were still going to look at him as though he didn't belong. If anything, his outstanding grades just singled him out even more.

Steve continued his long walk home, blasting his music while trying to forget what had just happened. His stomach growled ferociously. He wasn't surprised considering he hadn't eaten all day. But like most college students, Steve had no job and no money which equated to having no food. His scholarships dried up as his grades went on a steady decline, so there was little support on that front. Steve could only think of coming home to homework, an empty fridge, and a saddened heart.

He did like that girl. Asking her to dinner this coming Friday wasn't just out of whim. She was smart, pretty, a huge sports fan, and was funny as a hoot. But unsurprisingly, she couldn't seem to get past Steve's appearance. Beneath her sociably enjoyable experience lied a heart of ice, it seemed. But then again, would he had accepted if he was in her shoes? To be frank, he wasn't entirely sure at this point.

Steve stopped abruptly as a sudden realization threatened to smack him. He nearly face-palmed before realizing that he was in public. " _Oh you've got to be kidding me_ ," Steve thought to himself, turning down his music. " _I forgot my freaking hand-outs!_ " Steve angrily turned around, almost running into the girl who was walking behind him.

Steve turned up the music on his iPhone even louder, heading back to the College of Psychology to print off his hand-outs for a group presentation that was supposed to happen tomorrow. The sun was already setting and soon it would be dark out. Steve had forgotten to bring his jacket today and, with the icy winds that a New Hampshire winter brought, Steve would be freezing on his way home.

Steve took a deep breath and sighed. Surely this day couldn't get any worse. And if it did, would he really care? Steve just wanted to go home. Though home wasn't much to look forward to, at least he got to see his friends: Kyle and Phoenix.

Kyle and Phoenix were great friends and Steve enjoyed getting into many shenanigans with them day after day. Kyle and Phoenix were like two peas in a pod, almost inseparable, but Steve enjoyed their company nonetheless. He was suddenly saddened by the thought of just coming home and telling them about his recent failure of asking someone out. But Steve knew his friends were there to support him and lift him up when he needed them most. The young man slightly smiled to himself. Perhaps they would all have a giant laugh about it, watch some new episode of anime, and enjoy a nice bottle of Kyle's special cider. That would be quite nice.

As the sun continued to set at a fast pace, Steve had finally reached the College of Psychology. He was eager to quickly print off his hand-outs so he could hurry home before the night crept in around him.

As he approached the door, he noticed a young woman in a dark, black hoodie struggling feverishly with a large rectangular object trying to exit the college. She didn't have the strength nor balance to hold the object and the door. Steve, the gentleman that he liked to believe he was, rushed over to assist the young woman.

"Here," Steve began, holding the door open with his foot while grabbing the ends of the large rectangular object, "let me help you with that."

The young woman said nothing. Steve tried to get a better glimpse of the girl. Her hood was all the way up, covering most of her face, to where all Steve could see was bangs of dark blue hair, and a shade of blue lipstick.

"Thanks," the young woman muttered, and then, still struggling, she carried the rectangular object away. Steve watched her walking off, wondering what she could have been carrying, and why it was so necessary that she complete the task this late at night. Steve turned back to the door and clutched its handle, shivering a bit as the winter night slowly began to creep in on him.

" _Oh forget it_ ," Steve thought, " _I'm way too cold for this. I'll print them in the morning_." Steve turned around and put his headphones back in, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure about forty yards from where he was. Steve squinted his eyes, and found that he recognized that figure! It was the same girl he had helped out earlier! Steve began walking home, still curiously watching the girl as he walked.

The girl had carried the large object to the side of the building, propping it up against the side of the building. She reached up and grasped both ends of the silver sheet that was draped over it, yanking it off. The object was a mirror. Steve was very intrigued now, and slowed his pace just enough to focus his vision on what the girl was doing. Steve watched as the girl took one step back and placed her hand on the mirror. Steve took his headphones out and was about to start walking over towards the girl when she took a step forward and vanished into the mirror completely.

"What the-" Steve exclaimed out loud. Steve ran over to the mirror.

" _No_ ," he thought to himself. " _That couldn't have happened. I must have been seeing things. This is some fairytale, fantasy stuff. I must be hallucinating from how freaking hungry I am…_ "

The wind picked up quite a bit and nipped at Steve's face as he arrived face-to-face with the mirror. There was nothing strange or "magical" about the mirror. It was just a lame, full-body mirror with a silver frame. Steve looked at it some more and let loose a nervous laugh. Nothing strange or ordinary about this mirror, just his eyes playing tricks on him.

Steve chuckled to himself and bawled up his fist. Feeling cheeky, he decided to knock on the mirror. "Anyone home?" He said with a laugh and tried to knock on the mirror with his knuckles. And that would have been fine and dandy, but Steve's knuckles, in fact his whole hand, disappeared into the mirror.

Seeing his hand vanish, Steve let out a yelp of "What the heck?!"

He tried to yank his hand back, but something was pulling him in. Steve planted his feet firmly into the ground, tugging on his arm with all of his might, but it was fruitless endeavor. Soon his whole arm was being pulled in, and, with one last desperate look at the world he knew, a desperate attempt to look for help, Steve was pulled into the mirror and vanished completely.

Steve felt as though someone had thrown him into the world's largest whirlpool. His head was spinning, no, his whole world was spinning. The wind howled and spun in his face. His body was being thrown around unforgivingly by the mere force of the wind. Steve used every bit of strength he had to open his eyes, and the last thing he remembered seeing was the same girl he saw before, still in the dark, black hoodie pulled down over most of her face. Steve fought the nauseous feeling in his stomach as he strained to see the girl, but suddenly she appeared right in front of him. The girl grabbed him by the throat, their bodies winding and lashing everywhere in the whirlpool of wind, her hand remained firmly gripped on his throat. Steve could feel himself start to black out, and raised his hands to defend himself, but couldn't find the strength in his body to fight against the wind.

Steve was scared. He had heard of demonic figures and possessions in his Religious Class, and feared that this was indeed happening to him. The girl opened her mouth to reveal many sharp, pointed teeth and started yelling at Steve in a deep, booming voice:

"YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE FOLLWED ME!"

Her grip on his throat tightened, and Steve's vision started to tunnel and fade out. Steve reached for his chest and wrapped his fingers around his Cross necklace. If he was going to be possessed, or even die, Steve wanted to try just once to end his life on a spiritual note, thinking about—

Steve blacked out.


	2. Super Studious Party Ponies

_**Howdy folks, Johnchkrow here! I just want to extend a warm welcome to everypony reading this, as this is my first ever Fan Fic, and I was really nervous to start writing it and post it! Chapter 3 is where we dive into the real good stuff, so I'm really stoked for next week!**_

 _ **A very special shout-out to: Burn Shadow, GMP 1, bigdogml01, and ctran03931for favoriting/following**_ _ **The Silver Lining**_ _ **\- you guys are awesome! Look for shout-outs later in the story!**_

 _ **Another thanks to Koal for the review! I'm glad you liked the intro, I'll be posting every week and hope you continue to find**_ _ **The Silver Lining**_ _ **interesting.**_

 _ **Enjoy Chapter 2, everypony!**_

* * *

"Thanks again Rarity for treating me to dinner! But, you didn't have to walk me home you know?" a lavender pony with a horn slightly dividing her purple bangs and wings tucked in at her side said to another pony, who was all white except for a stylish, curled purple mane and a white horn of her own.

"Oh why of course, darling!" the white pony with an eastern European accent replied, "You didn't expect me to not do anything for my dear friend Princess Twilight on her birthday did you?" The two ponies continued walking together; a giant, well-kept castle appeared to be their desired destination in the near distance. "And besides darling, it's getting dark out! It's not safe to walk home by yourself!" Rarity flashed Twilight a nervous smile, hoping she had bought her reason for walking home with her. Twilight raised an eyebrow and eyed Rarity carefully, even skeptically.

"Right…but, you live in the opposite direction of me, so why would you-" Twilight stopped and paused, shaking her head, then smiled. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Thank you Rarity, I appreciate it!" Rarity smiled and trotted on ahead.

"You're welcome darling, now, we must get you home quickly and out of this chilly weather so you don't catch one of those…icky colds!" Rarity's face contorted into a disgusted look, then smiled, closed her eyes and continued trotting on ahead.

Twilight trotted a bit faster to catch up to Rarity, eying her suspiciously until they finally arrived at the giant tree's front door. Rarity stopped and turned to Twilight, who smiled at Rarity and walked past her, heading for the door.

"Thanks again Rarity, for everything. I had a lot of fun tonight! Definitely a great birthday." Rarity continued smiling at Twilight and didn't turn around to leave. Twilight thought about all of the homework she had to do tonight for her latest project on the study of a newly discovered type of magic.

Then she had to clean her small castle up a bit, unless Spike had already done so. Twilight opened her door with her purple magic, swinging the door open slightly, but not widely and welcoming. She had had a great evening with Rarity, and thoroughly enjoyed their tome together at Sugarcube Corner, but Twilight also knew she had so much work to do, and couldn't afford Rarity to be around to distract her. If Rarity wanted some Twilight Time, it would have to wait until Twilight was all caught up with her studies. Twilight stepped inside, and using her magic she flipped on the light switch-

"SURPRISE!" Erupted a horde of Ponies tall and short, wide and slim, and of all different types of colors. Twilight screamed out loud as she jumped about ten hooves in the air, flapping her wings furiously out of fright. Twilight looked about to see her grand castle packed with ponies from all over Ponyville, even some from different regions of Equestria!

"My goodness darling, I haven't heard you scream that loud since we encountered that dreadful dragon that Fluttershy finally got to move away." Rarity had a smile on her face as she entered Twilight's home and lightly trotted into the massive party that was taking place inside. Twilight slowed down the rapid flaps of her wings and started to catch her breath, coming back down so her hooves touched the floor. She looked around and, still catching her breath, slowly smiled at the spectacle that she saw. There were ponies everywhere, packed into her home, tables with endless amounts of apples, apple tarts, apple pie, apple cobbler, apple fritter, apple bumpkin, apple strudel, apple cinnamon crisp, apple honey, zap-apple jam, applesauce, cupcakes, and apple cider.

Twilight's smile grew larger as she saw Spike and Applejack setting up a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, Twilight's favorite game. Twilight looked around to see the other guests who had shown up, so she could greet them properly, but suddenly her vision was blocked by a massive pink fluff, and Twilight felt herself being squeezed like an apple for Cider Season.

"OhmygoshTwilight,I'msohappyyoumadeitI'vebeenplanningthispartyformonthsandMONTHSnow! Iwasreallyworriedyouwouldn'tlikeitorthatyouwouldhateitbutyoudon'tcausethisis the BEST PARTY EVER!" Pinkie Pie smiled at Twilight in her normal goofy self, releasing Twilight from her freakishly strong grip and smiling at her with wide eyes. "You doooooooo like it don't you?" Pinkie eyed twilight carefully. Twilight caught her breath again after being hugged so intensely by Pinkie and smiled back, rubbing her sides and stretching out her wings.

"Yes Pinkie," She responded, "I really appreciate that you threw this party for me. But, I have a lot of homework to do and-"

"Well, that's good enough for me!" Pinkie interrupted then turned around and bounced away "La la la la la" she sang to herself, heading towards the pinned game of pin the tail on the pony.

Twilight sighed and frowned a bit, walking into the party crowd towards the table with the apple cider. She was unbelievably touched that her friends from all over Equestria had shown up to her birthday party, but she _did_ have a lot of work to do, and the mess left over from all of these party guests will take all night to clean, and then she'll have to stay up even later to complete her latest letter to Princess Celestia, and then she would have to continue work on her latest project, and then she would have to tuck Spike in, if he hadn't already passed out, and then-

"Did I hear you say homework?" A familiar voice from behind her said. "I didn't come all the way from The Crystal Empire to watch my little sis do homework." Twilight's demeanor and ears perked up. She recognized that voice.

"And I didn't come all the way from the Crystal Empire to have you worry about cleaning up after us." Another familiar voice rang to Twilight's ears; this one was a feminine voice with a gentle, silky tone. "Admit it Twilight, that's what you're thinking about I can tell! I know my sister-in-law!" Twilight turned around and smiled wide at the two ponies she saw: Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.

"Big brother! Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran towards the two ponies, and they both embraced her in a loving, tender hug. They embraced Twilight for a few more seconds before releasing her, then smiled at her as her face continued to beam at them. "I can't believe you guys are here! This is so incredible!" Twilight's face continued to shine brightly as she stared at both her BBBFF and her happy sister in law. Twilight threw her hooves around Cadence once more and the two of them smiled at one another and greeted each other with a proper bow, then in their more traditional way:

"Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" They finished by embracing one another as Shining Armor smiled and laughed at his wife and little sis. Cadence smiled back at Twilight:

"Of course we made it. How could I miss my favorite sister in law's birthday party? Besides," Cadence began, "Once Pinkie invited us, I Pinkie-Pie-Promised," she put her hoof over her eye then lowered it, "and you know how Pinkie gets…" she glanced over at Pinkie who was furiously trying to pin a tail on her respective pony. Cadence, Twilight, and Shining Armor laughed together and Shining Armor put his hoof on Twilight shoulder.

"Wow Twilly, sometimes I forget how much you've grown since we were fillies. And to think it's been almost four months since my LITTLE sister has become an Alicorn." He beamed at her and smiled. Twilight blushed slightly and smiled back.

"Yeah well let's not forget whose **one year** anniversary is coming up big bro." Shining Armor and Cadence leaned against one another briefly then Shining Armor turned back to Twilight and slightly blushed himself.

"Yeah, it's quite something how fast time has flown by since our amazing wedding." He smiled at Twilight, not forgetting how her resilience and determination to help their wedding go smoothly was the only reason he was married to his beautiful wife today.

"Speaking of which," Twilight asked curiously, "if you both are here, then who's keeping an eye on the Crystal Empire? On Flurry Heart?" Cadence was about to answer, when a slightly louder, but still softer, and graceful voice answered first.

"Princess Luna has kindly volunteered herself to watch over The Crystal Empire, young Flurry Heart, and Canterlot while we all celebrate Princess Twilight's birthday." A slightly bigger, white pony with wings and a horn of her own with a beautiful, flawless rainbow mane flowing down her side walked up to the group.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said breathlessly. Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight all bowed to one another.

"Hello Princess Twilight Sparkle! A very happy birthday to you!" Twilight beamed at her idol and former teacher. "Thank you, thank you so much Princess Celestia." Celestia smiled at Twilight, and the four stood together for just a moment before a flash of rainbow whizzed by and Twilight saw her friend Rainbow Dash hovering just a few hooves above her.

"Happy birthday Twilight!" she exclaimed excitedly "Come on! Don't just stand around, come have some of the delicious apple stuff that Applejack made! I don't know what most of it is, but it tastes pretty awesome!" Rainbow Dash zoomed away leaving a trail of rainbow behind her.

"She's right," Celestia began, "your friends worked so hard to put on this party, let's go join in the festivities, we have all evening to catch up."

"Agreed!" Cadence said excitedly, hungry from her travels from the Crystal Empire. The three began walking over to a table as Shining Armor used his magic to pour the three mares a glass of the Apple Family's Cider. He raised his glass using his magic, and the three Princesses followed suit.

"A toast, to the three beautiful princesses of Equestria. Long live the royalty that is Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. And happy birthday to my beloved little sister."

"Cheers!" All three Princesses said in unison, clinked glasses, and began drinking their cider. Twilight was enjoying her warm, bubbly cider, as she was quite thirsty from the day she had had. Cadence put her cider down and turned to Twilight.

"So Twilight," she said as Twilight kept sipping her cider, "any special gentle-colts in your life?" Twilight and Shining Armor both coughed and choked on their respective cider, as Celestia looked over at Twilight curiously. Twilight put down her cider and coughed a bit more. Shining Armor looked at Twilight sternly. Twilight finally caught her breath and set her cider down. When she realized that all three ponies were staring at her (Cadence with a girly smile, Celestia with a curious, friendly smile, and Shining Armor with piercing eyes, waiting for an answer) she began to blush.

"Well," she started, "umm, not as of late. I just have so much to do. I'm still kind of getting used to being a princess; let alone the Princess of Friendship. I have to make sure that all of Ponyville, or rather all of Equestria, is settled into friendship before I myself can settle with a special somepony." Shining Armor's face softened.

"Good. Any colt that wants to get close to my little sis has to get to me first." He said puffing out his broad chest a bit. Cadence rolled her eyes and laughed, then returned her gaze to Twilight.

"Well, what about Flash? Didn't you two have that dance together when you went through the mirror to the other world?" Twilight's face burned, and she could tell her cheeks were flushing a furious color of red.

"Well, you see," she began nervously, "I just don't know." She took a sip of her cider, trying to stall for time, hoping Pinkie Pie would come barging into their conversation and save her. "It's just…" Twilight looked around nervously for a reason to excuse herself, but found none. "The Flash of that world I knew. And the Flash here in Equestria, the pony Flash… I just don't know him very well…"

Shining Armor's face dropped a bit, to Twilight's dismay. As captain of the Royal Guard, and Flash being a guard for Canterlot, Twilight knew that if there were any colt in all of Equestria, Shining Armor would want her to be with Flash. Celestia laughed softly and put her hoof on Twilight, then used her magic to refill Twilight's glass with cider.

"Enough talk of Twilight's private matter," Shining Armor's face still had a disappointed frown on it. "Let's all enjoy the party and have a night to have some fun and grow stronger in the power of friendship!" Twilight smiled and thought to herself:

" _Thank you Princess Celestia._ "

Cadence stood up on her hooves and smiled at Twilight. "C'mon Twilight, let's go play pin the tail on the pony! We haven't played together since we were fillies!" "Sure thing Cadence!" Twilight said excitedly and got up to accompany her sister in a game.

The night was still young and the party was truly one of Pinkie's best so far. The Mane 6 united and happily discussed their day together, talking about Applejack's long list of her usual chores, Rarity's latest stint at impressing a hotshot fashion designer, Fluttershy's happy day of playing with her newest pet lamb, Rainbow Dash's new record of 9.8 seconds of clearing the clouds, and Pinkie Pie's day of breaking the lock to Twilight's house, leaving the door open all day and running in and out to prepare Twilight's house for her party. Twilight spent the night laughing, playing tons of party games, and enjoying the company of her friends, family, and the rest of the ponies who showed up to celebrate her birthday. The party was just about to start calming down when there was a sudden knock at the door. Quick as a flash Pinkie Pie zoomed over to the door and swung it wide open. A tall, light, burnt orange pony with a puffy, frizzy mane and a yellow collared shirt was standing at the door with a huge smile on his face was standing in the doorway.

"CHEESE SANDWICH YOU MADE IT!" Pinkie erupted and threw herself at Cheese Sandwich, squeezing him in a hug.

"YES!" Cheese responded with equal enthusiasm. "How could I miss a SUPER DUPER party thrown by Pinkie Pie!" He turned to the party crowd and held out a tray. "Alright ponies! It's time to PARTY! I brought wasabi beans!" The ponies all stared at him in confusion. Cheese quickly hid the tray and pulled out a new one, seemingly out of nowhere. "I mean MACRONI AND CHEESE!" The ponies all erupted as Pinkie beamed at Cheese Sandwich, happy to be reunited with her friend. Cheese pulled out a tarp (again, from seemingly nowhere) and unrolled it across a nearby table. The tarp unrolled perfectly with macaroni buffet set out, and party hats, party balloons, party cake, and three rubber chickens all set up perfectly. Pinkie hopped around excitedly while Cheese Sandwich turned to her and smiled wide, happy he was able to impress Pinkie with his party planning. Twilight, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the rest of the Mane Six came over to greet Cheese Sandwich

"Sorry I'm so late Pinkie," Cheese said rather carefree "I had a party to plan for somepony who's celebrating her newest pet addition!" All eyes turned to Fluttershy, who hid under her wings briefly, then reemerged and smiled shyly. Everyone laughed and was about to return to their respective party places when Cheese Sandwich spoke again: "There was this crazy looking fellow who seemed lost and followed me here! He said he was coming to Twilight's birthday party, so I gave him directions!" Pinkie gasped and dashed away, only to return a fraction of a second later wearing a pair of reading glasses and holding a guest list.

"But," she said curiously, "every guest on the list is already here!" Pinkie looked horrified. Could she have miscounted?

"Oh," Cheese said a tad confused, "Oh well! Time for some apple tart!" Cheese happily trotted towards the table, leaving a horrified Pinkie Pie standing there, mouth ajar. Twilight ran over and laughed.

"Oh Pinkie," Twilight said with a smile, "it's okay, I'm sure the pony Cheese was talking about is already here!" Applejack came over to Pinkie, who was still frozen in shock:

"Besides, this party's a better time than plowing a field with a working tractor while sippin' lemonade and plantin' more apple seeds!" Rainbow Dash offered her two cents of comfort:

"Yeah Pinkie Pie, this party is awesome!" Rainbow did a flying loop, then came over and lightly punched Pinkie Pie, "not as awesome as me of course, but still pretty awesome!" Rarity and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. Pinkie was not satisfied as she zoomed over to Cheese Sandwich and grabbed him. Cheese smiled carelessly and looked at Pinkie. Pinkie's eyes widened and she started to breath heavy.

"QUICK! Whowastheponyyousaw? Whodidyoutalkto? Whowhowhow?" She jumped up on Cheese Sandwich's head and with her four hooves turned his head in various directions. "aretheyhthere? There? There? There?" Pinkie kept twisting Cheese's head around, hoping he would see the pony he talked to earlier. Cheese, now dizzy, said to Pinkie happily:

"Well, I don't see him here! And he wasn't exactly a pony…" Twilight's ears perked up, suspicious. She turned to Cheese Sandwich and curiously, cautiously, asked:

"Well WHAT exactly did you talk to?" Cheese rubbed his chin with a thinking face on, Pinkie Pie still perked on his head.

"Well, he was a rather tall this fellow. I've never seen him before in all my days of Equestrian Partying. He kind of looked like a pony with two mismatching horns, mismatching wings, and THIS GUY," His voice bellowed with much more excitement now "He was all kinds of different colors!" Cheese smiled at Pinkie the way he usually smiled at others. Twilight's heart sank fast.

" _He can't be talking about-_ " she thought to herself before her thoughts were interrupted with the door swinging (loudly) wide open. A figure emerged from the door frame and entered the house. This figure had the head of a pony, and a body made up of all sorts of things.

"Hell-ooo everypony!" Discord bellowed at the partying ponies. "Oh what a fun party! I haven't been to one of these in ages!" Cheese's face lit up and pointed his hoof at Discord, who was wearing a familiar white collared shirt and stylish sunglasses.

"Oh him! That's the fellow I saw!" Twilight face-planted onto the table in front of her.

"Not him," she thought out loud, "anyone but him."


	3. This is the problem

Chapter 3: This is the Problem and the Problem is this!

 ** _Chapter Three is here everypony and we have lift-off! The really takes off here and I'm excited to continue sharing The Silver Lining with everypony! Chapter Three picks up right where Chapter Two left off, with a certain lover of Chaos here to crash the birthday party of out favorite Princess of Friendship!_**

 _ **Special shout-out this week to ctran03931 for the review AND Follow! I hope you continue to read and enjoy The Silver Lining! Yes, Steve's adventures have only JUST begun, with so much more to see and experience- he's totally going to need a hoof or two xD**_

Discord took a few steps into Twilight's home and smiled down at all of the ponies inside. Everypony at the party was staring up at Discord with a look of shocked horror on their faces except for the Mane Six, who were glaring at him. Discord looked around and realized that the party had stopped.

He smiled smugly and took off his sunglasses. "Oh come now everypony! Don't just stop the partying because I'm here. I'm just here to celebrate the birthday of my beloved friend Twilight Sparkle!"

"Wait just a minute!" Pinkie Pie shouted, leaping off of Cheese Sandwich's head and stepping up to confront Discord. "YOU are not on the guests list! Which means you're here uninvited, which means you can't be at one of my superduperpartiesbecauseyou'renotontheguestslist!"

Discord looked a little shocked, then smiled smugly again and picked Pinkie Pie up, coddled her in his arms. Despite her struggling, Discord held her in his arms and began to pet her like a cat.

"Oh Pinkie Pie," he began, "Surely you don't think I would just show up to a party uninvited, bring tons and tons of HILARIOUS chaos, and then just leave the giant mess for Princess Twilight Sparkle to clean up, do you?" He held Pinkie in from of his face and batted his eyelashes at her.

Suddenly Pinkie's body became enveloped in a pinkish-red as she was preyed away from Discord's grip by Twilight's magic. Twilight walked over to Discord, still glaring at him, and set Pinkie Pie down next to her. Discord smiled at Twilight in his usual smug way, then snapped his fingers and a rocking chair appeared behind him as he sat down in it. He continued smiling at Twilight.

"Actually Discord," Twilight said to the draconequus angrily, "I think that's exactly what you planned on doing! Seeing as how you tried so very hard to ruin me and Cadence's visit. That's not even mentioning all the other troubles you give us every time you show up!"

Rainbow Dash zoomed over next to Twilight. "Yeah!" she chimed in. "Not to mention all of Equestria was a wasteland because YOU helped Tirek take all of our magic!"

Twilight used her magic to open her door, and, also using her magic, made the chair Discord was sitting on disappear. "Now please leave." Twilight said sternly, still glaring at Discord. Discord frowned, then he crossed his arms and pouted. Twilight felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Fluttershy smiling shyly at her.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as Fluttershy began to speak, "Umm, actually Twilight, umm, Discord can't just leave because umm, well, I invited him here." She smiled shyly at Twilight, who returned her smile with a look of shock and anger.

"You did WHAT!?" Twilight cried out. She turned back to Discord, who was about to open another bag of Plunder Seeds, with an evil smile on his face, but when he saw Twilight staring over at him, he quickly put the seeds away and started eating a plate of Macaroni and Cheese that he had stolen from the pony next to him, who was glaring up at him.

"Fluttershy," Twilight said in an irritated voice, "what in all of Equestria were you thinking when you decided to invite Discord! Have you forgotten everything he's done to us?"

Fluttershy cowered a bit at the angry Twilight, then she flapped her wings and flew over to Discord, who was balancing two or three full plates of macaroni and cheese on a brown pony, immobilized by his magic. Once Discord saw that the attention was back on him, he snapped his fingers, freeing the pony. He leaned against a bookcase, sipping a glass of chocolate milk. Fluttershy hovered next to Discord and gave him a hug. The sudden hug surprised Discord, but he returned her hug with a half-hug of his own, shooting Twilight a smug expression.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight and said, "Discord is our friend. And as a true friend he deserves to be invited to all parties, especially an important one like your birthday!"

Twilight rubbed her forehead with her hoof, opened her mouth to rebuttal, but was interrupted by Princess Celestia saying, "Fluttershy's right, Twilight."

Twilight's look of anger turned suddenly to shock as she turned around to see the majestic princess behind her. "But Princess Celest-"

"Twilight," Celestia interrupted, "Discord is indeed your friend, as well as the friend of Fluttershy. As a princess, and the Princess of Friendship, it is your responsibility to show the citizens of Ponyville true examples of what friendship is. I am rather disappointed in how you have held grudges for Discord due to his past mistakes. You, being the Princess of Friendship should practice forgiveness when forgiveness is needed." Twilight frowned and looked down, slightly embarrassed to have disappointed the princess.

Out of nowhere, Discord appeared next to her and put his arm around her. "Oh Twilight Sparkle, I accept your apology."

"But I didn't even apolo-"

Discord pinched her lips shut and continued, "But you should know that I am." He cleared his throat and clapped his hands. A present appeared in front of him, and he handed it to Twilight. "Reformed!" The present unwrapped itself to reveal a framed picture of Discord and Twilight happily skipping in a field of flowers. Twilight held the picture in her hooves, still upset about Princess Celestia having been so disappointed in her.

"Now hold on just a second!" Rainbow Dash shouted and zoomed over to face Discord. Rainbow dash balled up her hoof and waved it at Discord threateningly. "I don't trust you one bit, Discord! If you do anything to ruin Twilight's birthday, you'll be answering to ME!" Discord's face looked a tad hurt, but then he smiled at Rainbow Dash.

Twilight sighed and set down the picture Discord had given her, then looked up at Rainbow Dash. "It's okay Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as Discord's grin grew.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted in disbelief, "Are you crazy? This is DISCORD we're talking about here!" Twilight held up her hoof, signaling Rainbow Dash to silence herself.

Twilight turned to Discord and swallowed hard, saying, "Discord, welcome to the party. You are welcome to stay as long as you would like."

Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead with her hoof as Discord jumped into the air. "Hooray!" Discord shouted and began dancing around happily. He clapped his hands twice and four empty glasses appeared on a table in front of him. Discord waved his hand over the glasses and they were instantly filled with chocolate milk. Discord smiled and then snapped his fingers again. The glasses of chocolate milk suddenly grew arms and legs, turned to one another and shook hands, and then began tap dancing across the table.

Upon hearing Twilight's decree, the rest of the ponies continued their socializing, partying, and many more games of pin the tail o0n the pony continued to commence. Shining Armor and Cadence were dancing happily together in a group of ponies that consisted of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. Everypony seemed to be having a grand time; even Discord was dancing with the party crowd and his chocolate milk dancing troupe. Everypony was enjoying themselves, except the birthday mare: Twilight. Twilight sat angrily at a table sipping more cider and glaring at Discord.

Discord just doesn't show up to a party for any reason other than to cause trouble and Twilight knew it was a matter of time before he started that trouble. Spike, who had spent most of the party following Rarity, walked over to the table Twilight was sitting at and sat down next to her.

"What's going on Twi? Why aren't you up dancing and having a good time like everypony else?" Spike asked, though he suspected he knew the reason why.

Twilight looked _more_ annoyed than ever.

"Because," she started hotly, "everything was going great until Discord showed up, probably scheming to ruin some part of this party and cause more trouble with me and Cadence, and Princess Celestia, and all of my other friends! Not to mention that he made me look totally rude and inconsiderate in front of Princess Celestia!"

Spike chucked at the angry Twilight. "Twilight," he began, "Discord is just one pony, errr draconequus, here at the party. You should be focusing more on the people who came here just for you and having a good time with them! Don't let Discord get to you. This is YOUR special day!" He smiled at Twilight and her face softened and she smiled back. She reached over and gave Spike a huge hug.

"Thanks Spike," she said happily and the two held each other for a few more moments. They soon let go and Twilight stood up. "You know what Spike? I'm just going to have some fun for the rest of the night and not worry about anything or anypony else!"

Spike smiled and put his party hat back on. "That's the spirit Twilight!"

Twilight smiled and headed towards the dancing group with her head held high and with a happy look on her face. "Besides," she said to Spike as they approached their group of friends, "If Discord is here, at least that means that there's nothing else in all of Equestria that could wrong tonight!"

Just then, the door to Twilight's home swung open with a huge boom that shook the house, and every pony inside stopped what they were doing and stared at the dark figure at the door. The figure was a somewhat larger pony, and was extremely dark blue, with a dark blue mane that matched the night sky. Indeed, Princess Luna stood in the doorway of Twilight's home. Every pony inside stared at Luna in shock, not sure why she had shown up, and why her entrance was so sudden and unannounced. Even Discord stopped and his troupe of chocolate milk sat down and stared up at Luna with their faceless selves. Princess Luna bowed to the royalty that was at the party before speaking in her usual dark, mysterious tone.

"Sister, Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, and I must leave this party immediately and go to the Crystal Empire. There's an emergency that must be attended to."

Celestia stood up and faced her sister, their eyes met and Celestia knew Luna was very concerned, but Celestia knew that this party was important to Twilight and her friends, and didn't want to leave earlier than she had to. "Sister," she replied to Luna, "is that an absolute emergency, or—"

Luna stomped her hoof down and looked at her sister boldly. She then paused, lowering her head a tad as her face softened, saying three simple words:

"It's the mirror."

Celestia's eyes widened and she stood up immediately. Celestia turned to Cadence and Twilight, a much more serious look now on her face. "Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight," she said boldly, trying to hide the fear in her shaking voice. "You must come with Princess Luna and myself immediately."

Cadence and Twilight looked at one another, confused and slightly afraid looks on their faces. Celestia began walking forward to leave the party, then stopped and turned to Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor, you are in charge of escorting all guests out of Princess Twilight's house. Afterwards, you must come quickly back to the Crystal Empire with the rest of Twilight's friends. Do you understand?" Shining Armor was very confused but stood up and nodded at the mighty princess. Celestia and Luna began to exit the house, Cadence following behind with her head down and a frown on her face. Twilight was still stunned and a bit afraid. She had never seen Princess Celestia so worried, and she knew something serious was going on, because Celestia would never leave a party in Twilight's honor.

Applejack came over to Twilight and looked her worriedly. "Twi, is everythin' okay?" She asked softly. Twilight looked down and frowned, very sad that her party came to an end, and afraid of what might be happening in The Crystal Empire.

Discord perked up from the beach chair he had been sitting on this whole time. He lowered his sunglasses a tad and listened intently on what Twilight was about to say.

"I don't know Applejack. I've never seen Princess Celestia so upset or worried before…" Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting down with a very sad look on her face.

"Pinkie Pie…" she said towards the party pony. "I'm sorry but I must go now. Apparently Equestria needs me for the millionth time," she tried to joke, but she could only laugh weakly to her own words.

Pinkie looked up at Twilight. "But…but this was the bestest most super party ever…" her usually loud and cheerful voice was saddened and dull.

Twilight gave a small, saddened smile. "Yes, it sure was. I don't know what Princess Celestia needs me for, but I need to go to the Crystal Empire." Upon hearing this, Pinkie's frown grew even larger, even Cheese Sandwich frowned at this, saddened to see the party end so abruptly.

"But we can continue this party when I come back, I promise I'll be back as soon as I can!" Twilight said as she tried to cheer everypony up a bit. She wasn't sure she could keep that promise though. This emergency could take a while to resolve.

Pinkie perked back up and hugged Twilight tightly. "Okie dokie! I can't wait til you come back though! We're going to continue the mostsuperdupermostawesomeestpartyever!"

Twilight smiled at Pinkie's happy nature now and was about to turn to the rest of her friends when Celestia's voice rang into the room, "Princess Twilight! I need you to come with me at once!"

Twilight flinched a bit at the Princess' frustrated voice. She then turned around and replied to Celestia, "Yes princess, I'm coming." Twilight gave her friends one last saddened, worried look, and they all returned her look with a sad and worried ones of their own. Twilight trotted out of her home and regrouped with the three other princesses.

Luna nodded as Twilight rejoined the princesses, acknowledging her presence in the group, and then spoke, "There is something very wrong with the mirror we keep stored in the Crystal Empire." Twilight's eyes widened only slightly, but was just enough for Luna to notice. "Yes, Princess Twilight, the same one that you used to travel to the other dimension to retrieve your Element of Harmony."

"Sister, is it Sunset Shimmer? Has she come back?" Celestia asked anxiously.

"No my sister," Luna shook her head, "Sunset Shimmer is a pony I can handle. She does not threaten our kingdom." Twilight couldn't tell if Celestia was relieved or disappointed at this news. "However," Luna began, "Somepony has found his or her way into Equestria. And I know not where they came from, why they are here, or how they found another portal to Equestria."

All three princesses listened intently. Luna turned to Celestia and said, "Sister, I need you to use your magic to teleport us to the Chrystal Empire, as I used much of mine getting here myself."

Princess Celestia nodded silently, and her horn began to grow gold. Twilight had so many questions and so many things to ask Celestia, but knew now was not the time. All four ponies started to glow gold and a tad blue from Luna's magic. Within seconds, all of them vanished from sight.

* * *

Back inside Twilight's house, Shining Armor had instructed every pony, minus the remaining members of the Mane Six, to exit Twilight's house and to go home. Every pony inside lined up and began leaving Twilight's house, grumbling about how much fun they were having and why they had to leave so soon. As Cheese Sandwich left, every pony had left the party except Shining Armor, the remaining Mane Six, and Discord. The remaining Mane Six gathered and looked at one another, half-confused and half-scared. Shining Armor had just finished escorting the last pony out of Twilight home as the Six began to talk amongst themselves.

"What'd ya reckon was so urgent that Princess Celestia just had to take Twilight away and cancel the rest of the party?" Applejack asked the group. Everyone looked at one another for answers.

"I don't know dear," Rarity replied, "but it must be bad. I know Princess Luna is classier than to just barge into a party so rudely and take Twilight away!"

Fluttershy added her two cents by saying, "I agree… I don't know what caused Princess Celestia to be so upset, but it must be really, really bad..."

"LIKE A DRAGON!?" Pinkie Pie blurted out and hid behind Applejack, shaking in terror.

"Actually," Rainbow Dash said, her eyes narrowing in on Discord, "I think I know who might know something about all of this." Quick as a flash, she zoomed over to face Discord, who was relaxing in a hammock he made himself and sipping on some punch.

"Talk Discord! I know you know something about why Princess Luna came and took Twilight and Cadence and Celestia!" Discord set down his cup of punch and snapped his fingers, to which the cup then grew arms and legs, took out a briefcase and a top hat, tipped its hat to Discord, and walked out of the house. Discord yawned and stretched, causing a few books on a nearby shelf to applaud him, and patted Rainbow Dash on the head.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, are you always the one who accuses innocent friends of such terrible things?" Discord gave Rainbow Dash the most innocent look he could possibly muster, which was only met by Rainbow Dash glaring at him angrily. "How could I, The Reformed Discord," Discord got out of his hammock and took out a dozen roses, which he handed to Rainbow Dash, "have anything to do with anything that 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle was needed for? I was here the whole time!"

Discord held out his arm, revealing a watch that stated in print: **Here the whole time**.

Fluttershy flew over to rainbow Dash and hovered in between her and Discord. "Discord's right Rainbow Dash, he was here the whole time and did nothing but enjoy the party." Rainbow Dash's face grew even angrier as she flapped her wings out of frustration.

"Fluttershy! When are you going to stop being such a gullible pony! Discord isn't reformed! He never was and never will be!" At this point, Rainbow Dash was practically yelling at Fluttershy, flying above her slightly and shouting down to her intimidatingly. "Everywhere he goes he just wants to start trouble! I know he's behind all of this! He just has to be! Everything was going so well until he showed up!"

Applejack was about to say something when Shining Armor stepped forward and faced Discord. "Discord," he started, to which Discord was suddenly standing up straight as an arrow, wearing an army uniform and saluting Shining Armor. "Whether you're behind this or not, it's impossible to tell." Discord's face remained stern, holding his salute and nodded at Shining Armor. Shining Armor turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, we will deal with Discord later. Right now, Twilight needs you all there for her. We need to get to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible. By now I'm sure Luna has already sent for a chariot for all of us."

Rainbow dash landed on the ground, still glaring at Discord. Discord saw this and winked at Rainbow Dash slyly before returning to his army-stance. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth but remained silent per Shining Armor's request. Shining Armor turned back to Discord and stated, "I'm going to need to ask you to leave. We need to go to The Crystal Empire, and Twilight's house must be vacant so Spike can clean the mess from the party." Discord's serious look remained as he saluted Shining Armor and then smiled at the Mane Six.

"Oh alright, I'll go on home now and let you all deal with whatever it is that Princess Celestia is all worked up about. Oh Fluttershy, would you be a dear and write me as to how everything goes?" Fluttershy nodded and smiled at Discord as Rainbow Dash continued to glare at him. "Splendid!" Discord bellowed happily, then snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving behind four very confused and lost dancing glasses of chocolate milk. Everypony waited a bit before they all let out a sigh of relief that they didn't know they were holding in. Discord was exhausting to be around.

Shining Armor looked much more relieved to see Discord gone. "Alright ladies, let's get going. The sooner we get to the Crystal Empire, the sooner we can figure out what's going on, and the sooner we can help in any way we can." The mares all nodded and followed Shining Armor outside where indeed two chariots for them to take to the Crystal Empire. All six of the ponies got into the chariots, and began heading towards the Crystal Empire.

Pinkie Pie turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I have a feeling that whatever is going on is going to be really, REALLY scary…"

Applejack leaned over and put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "It'll be alright Sugarcube. We've been through the thick and the thin before and always came out on top! This time'll be no different!"

Unexpectedly, Applejack felt a shiver course through her body, as if someone had just run her through a very quick ice bath. Applejack sensed something that she had never sensed before. Something terrible was among them, though she could not see it; something evil, something extremely dangerous.

She didn't know exactly what it was but what she did know was that she was suddenly _very_ doubtful of her last statement.


	4. And the problem is this

_**Hello everypony! So sorry for the long delay. I recently just moved to an entire new state and began my first post-college job! Exciting times!**_

 _ **Chapter 4 is a bit lengthier than the others, to make up for the lengthy delay in posting it; and chapter 5 is already set to be posted once my editor finishes it.**_

 _ **Shout-out this week to Spooky Spoon and GuyWithNoName for following and favoriting- you guys are awesome!**_

 _ **Another shout-out to ctran03931 for yet another review- keep them coming, we're glad you love The Silver Lining! Enjoy Chapter 4 everypony!**_

Chapter 4: And the Problem is this

The pain.

The pain was _unbelievably_ powerful.

Steve felt as if every bone in his body was broken, as he laid on the cold ground, motionless. Steve grunted, trying to stand but found he couldn't; he lacked the strength to stand on his legs. Steve's eyes were still shut as he wasn't sure if he wanted to open them. His mind was racing, his body was aching, and he was almost convinced that this was all just a horrid nightmare. Almost convinced, at least, because the pain felt so real. It felt too real to be a dream. Steve was racking his memory for anything that happened right after he walked up to the mirror. It was as if someone had wiped away whatever happened next and Steve was unable to recall whatever happened right before waking up.

Steve decided to open his eyes and face whatever he was about to encounter. He slowly opened them and discovered his vision was blurry. Steve knew that his glasses must have been knocked off and wasn't sure if they were somewhere around him.

"Goodness gracious," he thought to himself, "what in the hell happened to me?" Steve blinked a few times and tried his hardest to focus his vision to at least see WHERE he was, but to no avail. His vision was just too poor without his glasses.

Steve blinked a bit more and slowly moved his right arm forward along the ground, trying to feel for his glasses. Not only was his arm sore, but it felt much heavier and stiffer than it ever had before. His hand was also heavier than usual. Furthermore, he was unable to move his fingers. Steve looked over at his arm, turning his neck gingerly. Though his vision was blurred significantly, he could see the rough outline of his arm. It was… _blue_? Steve frantically blinked and squinted his eyes, trying to get a better glimpse of his arm, but all he could see was that his arm was blue. No other details registered to his unassisted eyes.

Steve was now panicked. This was definitely not a dream, and there was something horribly wrong with his arm. He prayed that the rest of his body wasn't blue either. Steve tried to roll over, but his body was slightly stockier than usual. As a result, he awkwardly flopped on the ground a bit before wincing in pain and stopping. Steve tried to stand up again but was still too weak. The pain kept him floored where he laid.

From a nearby distance, he heard voices. Cold fear and panic alarms ran through Steve. Whoever is out there could either save him or really hurt him…and Steve was _pretty_ sure he knew which was more likely. As the voices got closer, he could tell that they were female voices and he relaxed a bit. The voices were soft, from what he could hear. Steve felt a small amount of peace amidst the chaos and pain that he was experiencing. As the voices grew closer, he could start to pick out certain words that were being said. He distinctly heard the words: mirror, princess, magic, and friendship. Steve didn't know exactly what to think of this, but at least they weren't words like: kill, dissect, or capture. Steve strained his ears, hoping to pick up more of the conversation.

"Princess Luna, where do you think the pony came from?"

"I have a good guess as to where, but I am not exactly sure, I have never seen a pony quite so odd looking before, or with such a peculiar cutie mark."

"How do you know that this pony is still there?

"I left two guards in charge of the room while I was gone and instructed them to keep him there until we returned together."

Steve could only blindly assume that they were talking about him, but the word that caught him off guard was 'pony.' Surely he must have misheard the word 'person.' Now the voices were much closer and Steve could tell that they were now in the same room as him. Steve stayed very, very still. Perhaps he could learn more about who they were if he just eavesdropped. Furthermore, what on earth was a 'twilight sparkle'?

The female voices continued to talk amongst themselves, and Steve could tell they were standing over him now.

"What an odd-looking pony."

"I've never seen one with a mane like that before."

"He's an odd shade of blue, almost like you Princess Luna."

"Sister, what do we do?"

A soft, elegant voice spoke, "That decision is not for me to decide but for the four of us to decide together. Together we rule Equestria. Princess Luna and I have been making these decision by ourselves for far too long now. There may come a day when Luna and I no longer reign over Equestria. And for that reason, Princess Twilight, you and Princess Cadence will need to contribute to this decision."

Steve opened one eye, trying to get a glimpse of who these females were. Steve's vision did not allow him to do so, as he only saw colors of lavender, white, dark blue, and pink. Steve's mind finally put it together. These things were not human.

Steve finally found his voice. He wasn't sure where he was, why his arms were blue, why there were other beings of different colors standing over him, and why he was in so much pain. Steve let out a loud scream.

"AAH!" Steve's scream escaped his mouth and echoed loudly through the room.

"AAAAH!" Twilight and Cadence also jumped back and screamed while Celestia and Luna just stepped back. Steve looked around frantically, squinting his eyes and trying to stand on his feet. Unable to stand, he just flopped around on the floor frantically as the four princesses watched, unsure of what to do. Steve continued flopping around on the floor, breathing frantically. Suddenly, Luna stepped forward and put a hoof on Steve. Steve's body froze in fear. Luna used her magic and lifted Steve in the air before setting him to stand on the floor with his own four hooves. This was strange for Steve. He felt both hands and both feet on the floor, yet it felt _natural._ It was as if he was standing on his normal two legs. Steve tried to relax a bit because if these creatures wanted to hurt him, they would have done so when they levitated him off of the ground. Steve noticed the white 'blob' figure approach him.

"Hello, blue pony. My name is Princess Celestia. Welcome to Equestria."

Steve tried his best to focus his vision to get a better glimpse of who, or what, was talking to him. Unable to see, he felt around the ground with his front arms for his glasses.

"Oh! I think he's looking for these!" Another voice spoke as Steve saw a lavender blob walk closer to him. He saw a very blurry object in front of him shrouded in red, then suddenly Steve felt his glasses being put on his face. Steve closed his eyes and reopened them. Everything was much more clear now, and he finally saw the creatures who he had been talking to: unicorns. Steve was in shock.

"Oh, this can't be right," he said aloud. "You're…you're all fictional characters. Unicorns don't exist!"

"We are NOT unicorns!" The dark-blue one stepped forward, an angry look on her face. "We are Alicorns, princesses even, and you will address us as so." She stopped and looked at Steve from head to toe. "In fact, from the looks of it, YOU are a unicorn."

Steve began to panic. Talking unicorns… _alicorns_ referring to HIM as a unicorn? This didn't make any sense. This couldn't be happening to him. The white "Alicorn" who was larger than the other three stepped towards Steve and put her 'hoof' on his shoulder. Steve flinched, expecting her to harm him.

"Do not be afraid. We are here to help you, to see why it is you are here, and to find out how we can send you home. Please, what is your name? My name is Princess Celestia." She motioned her hoof towards the other three. "And this is Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Princess Twilight Sparkle." The other three nodded towards him.

Steve cleared his throat and found his voice. "My name is Steven Dester. How did I get here..? The last thing I remember is-"

"You got here by passing through the mirror behind you," Twilight spoke to him. She was smaller than the other three, perhaps younger as well. Unlike Celestia, Luna, or even Cadence, Steve noticed that Twilight wore no crown and had her mane cut instead of flowing like the other two.

Twilight continued to say, "I remember when I took the portal to the world called Earth. You're a human who, by passing through the mirror, you've come to the land of Equestria, and have been turned into a pony. A unicorn more specifically."

Steve nervously laughed and turned to her. "A pony? Unicorn? Gimme a break! There's no way I've been turned into a-"

Using her magic, Cadence brought a mirror over to Steve's face, allowing Steve was able to see his new form for the first time. Mouth ajar, he noticed he really was a unicorn! He was a dark shade of blue with a messy white mane that had light aqua green highlights in it. Steve wore his thick-framed glasses that fit his new face. Steve couldn't help but notice that for a "pony," he was still rather odd-looking. Not that he had ever seen a unicorn before, but he felt he was still rather odd-looking. So all-in-all, nothing much had changed.

Steve turned to Celestia. "So how do I get back home? No offense, but I don't want to be a…unicorn. I'm a human and Earth is where I belong.

Celestia answered, "All you must do is turn around and reenter the mirror. That will turn you back into a human and take you back home."

"I'm afraid that won't work, sister," Luna spoke before facing Steve. "You entered the mirror and came here mere seconds before the portal was to close for another thirty moons. You are, unfortunately, stuck here now."

Steve digested the information with a growing expression of horror. "But…I need to get home! C'mon, there has got to be another way I can get back home! I don't want to be stuck here!" Steve tried to take a step forward but fell smack-down on his face. He was still feeling weak from earlier. Twilight and Cadence used their magic to get Steve back on his feet.

Princess Luna frowned and said, "No, there is not another way. You, Steven Dester, are stuck here until the moon properly realigns and the portal can be reopened."

Steve just couldn't believe it. He was going to be in this world for "30 moons." How would he adjust to being a pony? His friends or family would have no idea where he went! How would he ever catch up on all the schoolwork he missed out on? Would he even ever see them again?

After taking some time to think it over, Princess Celestia stepped forward and faced Twilight. "Twilight, you are the only one out of the four of us to have gone to earth and lived the way that humans do. You know what it's like to adjust to their way of living. And as the Princess of Friendship, it is in the best interest of all of us if you were to take this colt in and teach him how to live in Equestria. Teach him how to adjust and how to live here the best he can until he can return to his home."

"I agree with my sister. You will be able to help him the best, and this will allow him to learn from somepony who has lived with both worlds," Luna added.

"Besides, you're Princess Twilight! You can get along with any pony!" Cadence said as well, hoping to encourage her fellow princess.

Twilight wanted to respond and tell them that she was far too busy and didn't want to take on more responsibilities, especially those that involved babysitting some pony who had just appeared into Equestria. Twilight remembered when she visited Earth and how long it took her to get used to the ways that humans lived. Twilight simply did not have time for that. She had to catch up on all of her readings and attempt to replace knowledge from the library Tirek destroyed.

"With all due respect Princess Celestia, I just don't have time to look after somepony else. I have to read, focus my time on learning, and study the means of friendship so I can become a better princess. Not to mention I already am teaching Starlight Glimmer the joys of friendship. Taking on another pony would just be too much work."

Princess Celestia walked over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder, looking her deep into her eyes. Twilight was shocked that the Princess was being so personal with her.

"Princess Twilight," Celestia began, "this is more important than you realize. There are things Princess Luna and myself are not allowed to speak to any other pony. Please Princess Twilight, take this pony in and teach him how to live in this world of Equestria. If you succeed, this could be the best thing that has ever happened to Equestria."

Twilight was taken aback by how much this meant to Princess Celestia, and with one giant sigh, she faced the Princess and spoke, "Okay…I accept." Starlight was on her own mission at the moment, perhaps Twilight could use that time to train this new pony.

Princess Celestia's face softened and she looked much more relieved. "Thank you Princess Twilight. One of these days, you will understand."

Twilight was marginally upset that Celestia didn't tell her exactly why this was so important but didn't have the chance to dwell on it. At this time, Luna had stepped forward and addressed Twilight.

"Now Twilight Sparkle, go outside and greet your friends. Please explain to them why it is you were summoned here so that they do not worry. Go now."

Twilight nodded, turned around, and left, leaving Steve in the room with the three other princesses. Steve was exhausted and worried at the same time. The fact that he had just been turned into a pony made his mind spin. The "travel," if he could call it that, really took it out of Steve and he felt absolutely beaten up. He saw that Luna was talking to Celestia and perked his ears once more.

"Sister, I must tend to the night. I trust you can give this pony what he needs to start his journey here in Equestria?"

Celestia nodded and the two princesses left, leaving just Celestia and Steve together in the room. Celestia came close to Steve, who was so exhausted that it took all he had to stay awake and to stay standing. Celestia came over to Steve and placed a hoof on his shoulder, gently. She spoke, "What is your name again, young pony?"

Steve looked at her and responded weakly, "Steve. My name is Steve. Full name is Steven Dester."

Celestia smiled and looked Steve in his eyes. "Steve is not a name most ponies here are familiar with. If you are to live with us in the land of Equestria, then I suggest you go by a new name that is more accustomed to our culture." Celestia looked a little behind Steve, eyeing his flank. "Your cutie mark is certainly something spectacular. It's one of the most complex I have seen in all my years. Based on the cutie mark that been given in this new world, I think your new name should be Silver Swift."

"Silver Swift…?" Steve questioned out loud. He was fairly certain that the name Silver Swift wasn't very cool, nor was it a name he particularly wanted to go by. But, not wanting to protest the princess, he settled for silence.

Celestia continued, "Now Silver, you will encounter many things here in Equestria. I am counting on Princess Twilight to teach you and mentor you to use magic and learn the ways of us ponies. Once 30 moons has passed, I will give the option to return to your home. Now, please walk with me outside so we can send you home with Princess Twilight."

Steve nodded wearily and followed Celestia outside the room, walking slowly and shakily on his new legs. Outside, Steve saw Twilight talking to one of the guards; this one had blue hair.

"C'mon Twilight. One night out won't kill you."

'Flash, I told you I'm just…I have so much to do with being crowned the Princess of Friendship, studying this new form of magic, and being assigned this new pony to teach. I just don't have time to date somepony right now."

Twilight turned and started to walk away, but Applejack stopped her.

"Applejack?"

"Listen Twi," Applejack began speaking in a soft tone, "I know it's really not mah place to be givin' ya advice on this sorta thing and whatnot. But Twi, when is the last time you treated yourself to somethin'? I don't even remember you ever goin' on a date with somepony. C'mon now, Flash is a good pony and you deserve to be treated real nice-like. Besides, it would sure make your brother happy."

Twilight sighed and thought for a moment before slumping her shoulder and responding to Applejack. "I suppose you're right Applejack. I guess I could take one night off of my studies. Besides, it could be fun…right?"

Applejack nodded in reply.

"Thanks Applejack." Twilight responded earnestly.

Applejack smiled and nodded once again. "You're welcome, sugarcube."

Twilight walked back over to Flash, still with slumped shoulders, and said, "Alright Flash, you win. You can take me out for a night."

Flash smiled. "Yes! You won't regret this!"

"But just ONE night! And for not much time either. I have a lot to do and just this one date is going to push me way behind on my studies of friendship…'

Flash looked at her smugly. "So is it a date then, Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight took one last glimpse at her friends, who were all beaming, smiling, and nodding to her in encouragement, before turning back to Flash. "Yes, it is a date."

It was then that Princess Celestia decided was a good time to interrupt their conversation and pass Silver off to Twilight. Silver followed the Princess, half-asleep and half-tripping over himself. Flash bowed as Princess Celestia approached Twilight and spoke to her:

"Princess Twilight, here is your newest student, Silver Swift. Teach him everything you know, and show him the importance of friendship!"

Twilight sighed, but then bowed and replied, "I will do my very best Princess Celestia."

Celestia smiled. "Good. Now I will send you and Silver back to your castle. Your friends will rejoin you in the morning. Have a great night, Princess Twilight!"

Celestia's horn began to glow, resulting in Silver and Twilight beginning to glow. Celestia shouted to them as they were surrounded in an aura of bright gold.

"Remember Twilight! Teach him everything you know!"

Suddenly, Silver felt a small tingle before the whole world around him had begun to spin. Silver tried his best to keep his eyes open, but instead blacked out. The last thing he remembered was being tucked into a rather comfy bed and overhearing a conversation between a voice he recognized as Twilight's and another voice he did not know.

* * *

"What is it that Princess Celestia wants you to do with him?"

"She wants me to teach him the magic of friendship and help him to adapt to life here in Equestria. She also mentioned right before I left to teach him to teach him 'everything I know.'"

"Well, how are you going to do that?"

"I'm not sure Spike. My whole head is spinning from all of this. I guess I'll just show him around town tomorrow and explain to him the history of Equestria. Probably Ponyville as well, if he wants to know."

"Twilight, I'm still a bit lost on something."

"What's that?"

"How are you going to focus on teaching this pony when you're going to be so busy focusing on Flash? Ha ha ha ha!"

"Okay Spike, that's enough! Time for bed."

* * *

Queen Chrysalis laid in her cave in the Everfree Forest. She had long lost track of how long it had been since she was blasted out of Canterlot. But she knew it had to have been at least a few months, maybe even a season or two. A rather small, fierce-looking black creature appeared before her with a small loaf of bread. It wasn't as nutritious or filling as love, but it would have to do; at the very least, she could survive from this. Chrysalis looked up weakly and half-smiled at the creature. This was a changeling, a creature that has the magic ability to transform itself into anything it wants.

Chrysalis used to have an entire army of changelings from which she once used to attempt to take over Canterlot. But ever since Shining Armor's Protection Spell jettisoned her and her army out of Canterlot, only four other changelings survived the blast. Chrysalis, the closest to the spell when Shining Armor cast it, still had not recovered from her defeat. She is currently taking shelter in a cave in the Everfree Forest while each of her changelings loyally brought her scraps of food, hoping to nurse her back to full health.

Chrysalis slowly raised her head to her new food and ate a small portion before collapsing again. "Oh Xan, thank you," She said to her loyal child. "I am feeling better each day, but I fear I will not recover any time soon." She took another look at the bread and at her malnourished subordinate.

Her eyes began to water.

"It isn't fair!" she said out loud, startling the four changelings in the cave with her as her voiced echoed off of the hollow cave walls. "I was supposed to be queen and RULE everypony in Equestria! Now I am here, laying at the bottom of a cave, feeding on the leftover scraps of other ponies!"

The four changeling all frowned and huddled up to their queen sympathetically.

"I swear to all that is darkness that when I regain my strength again, I will have my revenge against that Shining Armor and those six ponies who helped to foil my plan!" Chrysalis then fell silent. That used up much of her strength. She laid on the cave, crying slightly when a booming, sharp voice echoed in the cave:

"Oh, did I hear someone say…revenge? Against members of royalty and the Elements of Harmony?"

Chrysalis was slightly scared but would die before she let her fear show. Using all that she had, she was able to rise slowly to her feet. She was still far too weak to use magic, but she hoped her visitor was unaware of that.

"Who goes there?" Chrysalis shouted before catching herself from falling due to her feeble legs. As much as she refused to show weakness, she was unable to gain strength in them.

"Who am I? I am a friend. I am of the past. I have not yet been able to tell you this, but I applaud your efforts in taking over Canterlot. A very courageous act, Queen Chrysalis. My only regret is not being there to help you tear down the walls of that wretched castle, piece by ever-loving piece."

Chrysalis shouted again, her voice now shaking, "Who are you? Show yourself!"

A cloud, or more so a stream of thick smoke, suddenly appeared in the cave. The "smoke-cloud" was unlike any Chrysalis had ever seen. It was blue, matching the night sky, and had small "stars" inside of it. Then Chrysalis heard the voice again.

"I am Nightmare Moon."

Chrysalis didn't reply for a moment, confused by this information. She decided to respond with a laugh.. "Fool! Everypony knows Nightmare Moon was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony!"

Chrysalis heard a mocking laugh in return. "Uneducated child! I am the ENTITY that is Nightmare Moon. Luna and I are separate. Luna is simply a body while I am the actual spirit that is the night!"

Chrysalis did not know what else to say, and she did not know what else to do. She just merely asked, as cliché as possible, "What do you want?"

The blue smoke got closer and closer to Chrysalis. "What do I want? I want my body back."

There was a stunned silence for a few moments before the cloud spoke again. "I want my body back, I want to tear down Canterlot, and I want to banish that wicked Celestia to the moon like she did me many years ago!"

Chrysalis stayed silent for a moment before she spoke again, cautiously. "Why do you come to me then? In my state, I won't stand a chance against the Elements. And with Shining Armor around, his Protection Spell will continue to keep me and my changelings away from any parts of Canterlot."

The cloud of smoke let out an evil, dark laugh. "Maybe so, in your current state, you are unable to fight. And your changelings are without much of a leader. But if we were to work together, I have a plan that will make every pony bow to our hooves!"

Chrysalis then asked, "What is this…plan?"

"The plan is for you to regain your strength and to transform your changelings into the strongest group of beings that Equestria has ever seen. Once you have regained your strength and your changelings are prepared, we will fight the Elements and all who stand in our way!"

Chrysalis smiled. This was the chance she had been waiting for. She could finally see her revenge on all those who had stopped her from reigning as queen forever. But, she also knew that no one, especially Nightmare Moon, offered help without expecting something in return.

"And what is it that you want from me?"

"I told you. I want my body back. Once you and your changelings regain your power, you will bring Luna to me alive. I will then regain my true form as well and while you rule over Equestria, I bring out the night forever!"

Chrysalis did not see another option. Even if Nightmare Moon were to betray her down the road, she had a better chance of taking her offer than she did laying here on the floor of a cave.

Chrysalis faced the cloud of smoke, and spoke confidently, "I agree. Let us take over and rule Equestria together!"

Chrysalis could have sworn she saw the cloud smile.

"Excellent!" The cloud bellowed loudly, shaking the walls of the cave. "I will guide you through my plan, and together, we will be able to take over all of Equestria! Now, I will cast a spell over you to regain your strength. Then, you will go and begin your journey to our triumph!"

The cloud approached Chrysalis and Chrysalis began to glow to a in a black aura, one that matched her own color. The cloud began to chant:

 _Tricks and fears, no sense of sight,_

 _May this being be one with night._

 _Bring her strength and weak be severed,_

 _With it the night shall rule forever!_

Chrysalis could feel it again as the words washed over her. Her strength!

It was…restored!

She stood on her four hooves and began to walk around the cave. She turned to her changelings and barked an order at them. "Alpha, Beta, Yan, Xan! Let us go! We shall have our revenge on those who ruined our chance at ruling Equestria!"

She then turned to face the cloud of smoke. "I shall bring you your body once my changelings regain their strength and take the forms of these 'beings' you speak of." Chrysalis then turned and walked out of the cave, inhaling the scent of the outside world even if it was the dark, spine-tingling Everfree forest. Chrysalis, with her four changelings behind her, took another step when suddenly she felt her body lock in place. She tried to move, but couldn't. Before she could even protest, she heard a voice in her head.

"Remember, Chrysalis. I gave you your strength back. If you dare defy or betray me, or if you do not follow my plan as I see fit, I can just as easily take it away."

Chrysalis simply smirked. "I will do no such thing. After all, with us working together, The Elements of Harmony don't stand a chance. Now, where do we start?"

"Tartarus," Nightmare Moon stated sharply. "It's about time I visited an old friend."


End file.
